Elsa's Accident
by DarkLordBeyonce
Summary: Anna helps Elsa recover after she loses her legs in a war accident.
1. Hospital

"I brought you flowers," Anna whispers, her voice falling on deaf ears as Elsa continues to stare off in the opposite direction. Anna shuffles her feet and picks at the flowers in her hands. She had picked out a cheerful bouquet of white daisies and yellow roses hoping to lift Elsa's spirits, but so far she hadn't even succeeded in getting her sister to look at her. She takes a look around the room. There isn't much to comment on- just four white walls and the faint smell of disinfectant spray. "We should get you out of here soon," she says quietly.

Elsa's grip tightens on the dull blue hospital sheets wrapped around her body. She clenches her jaw and swallows hard before clearing her throat. "Why are you here," she asks offhandedly, not bothering to turn toward her sister. She can't bare to look Anna in the eyes. Not right now. Not like this.

Anna looks down at the flowers wishing she was anywhere but here. "I just want to take you home… help you get better," the last part comes out so quietly that she wasn't sure that Elsa had heard it. She hadn't seen her sister in three years and now she was standing over her hospital bed.

Elsa rips the sheets from her body and turns to face Anna. Anna can see the tears streaming down her cheeks and she realizes that Elsa has been crying this entire time. Elsa sniffs and gestures toward the stumps that are where her legs once were. "I don't have legs, Anna!" Elsa's voice is hoarse and strained. Anna can clearly feel the pain emanating from each word that the older woman says, and she isn't sure how to respond. "How are you going to help me get better? Are you going to bring back my legs?" Elsa's body begins to shake with her sobs.

Anna cringes at the small amount of hope she hears in Elsa's voice as she cries out the question. She continues to silently stare down at the flowers in her hands. "I can't do that," she says despondently.

The doctor enters the rooms with a wheelchair, interrupting the tension between the sisters. He begins to speak, his voice cheery. "You ready to get out of here, Elsa? I know you're tired of staring at these walls." He ignores the fact that Elsa is sobbing as he silently waits for her to answer the question. When he gets no response he walks over to the bed and he gives Elsa a final checkup. After making sure that everything is fine he smiles down at her. "I think you can leave with your sister today. We will schedule an appointment for you to get fitted for prosthetics later. I think you deserve to be in a familiar setting."

Anna walks forward and tries to match the cheerfulness of the doctor, hoping she can inspire some type of hope inside of her sister. "I set up your room really nice, Elsa." Elsa doesn't respond to either one of them.

A couple of nurses enter the room and they manage to get Elsa into the wheelchair, even though she doesn't aid in moving her body. Once she is situated the nurses leave and the doctor places a hand on her shoulder. "Thank you for your service to our country." He gives Anna a nod before exiting the hospital room.

Anna drops the flowers in the trash with a thud, before getting behind her sister and gripping the cold rubber handles of the wheelchair. She pushes the chair out the door and enters the hallway. She then begins walking toward the entrance of the building. Once she exits she looks down to Elsa and gives her a smile. Elsa just blankly stares ahead of her without acknowledging that Anna is there. Anna pushes the wheelchair toward her car and stops near the passenger door. She opens the door and turns to Elsa. "It would help a lot if you aided me in getting you into the car." Elsa remains silent. "I know you're upset-"

Elsa lets out a small grunt and sticks out her arms. Anna leans forward as Elsa wraps an arm around her neck. She tentatively reaches for the nubs that are Elsa's legs and Elsa turns away from her. Anna places her hand under them and begins to lift Elsa. She places her in the passenger seat before reaching for the seatbelt. Elsa grabs her arm. "I can do that. I'm not a damn invalid, Anna." Anna silently retracts her hand and gives Elsa an apologetic nod. She rolls the wheelchair to the trunk and opens it before folding the chair and placing it inside.

Anna gets in the car and turns to Elsa. "Is there anything you would like to eat?" Elsa just stares out of the window as Anna starts the engine of the car.


	2. Welcome Home

Anna rolls Elsa into her small apartment and silently steps in front of the wheelchair. She gestures toward the space as she gives Elsa a tentative smile. "It's not much, but it's home." Elsa avoids eye contact and continues to stare off. Anna gets behind the wheelchair once more and pushes her toward a small bedroom in the back of the apartment.

When they enter Elsa notices that the walls have been recently painted blue and they are covered in tons of hand painted snowflakes. She tightens her jaw to fight the urge to cry. She had been fascinated by snowflakes as a child, constantly cutting out strings of the paper ones and showing them off to her parents. Anna was trying, she really was. Elsa just had nothing left to give her. She felt like she had lost everything in that accident. She needed to somehow acknowledge that she appreciated Anna trying. She looks up to Anna to speak but no words come out.

Anna looks down and gives her a reassuring smile. "It's no problem, Els. I want you to feel as at home as possible." She firmly places her hand on Elsa's shoulder. "I know it's hard. I won't pretend that I understand what you're going through, but I know you're strong. I know you can get through this, and if you let me, I will help you to the best of my abilities."

Elsa turns away from Anna, afraid that she might start crying. If she started she wasn't sure that she'd be able to stop and she didn't want to put that burden on Anna. She didn't want her baby sister to see her like this. She had went off to the army to show her that she was strong. She wanted to give her sister something to be proud of, but instead she just gave her this. Elsa looks down at her stumps as a tear falls down her cheek. She feels Anna's arms wrap around her and she leans into Anna's chest. "Why couldn't I just die," Elsa cries as a sob hiccups from her throat.

Anna tightens her grip on the hug. She isn't sure what to say to Elsa. Short of putting it into words, she doesn't know how to express how much her sister means to her. She thought the snowflakes might help, but even that was falling short. Anna rubs Elsa's back as she tries to calm the older woman. She starts singing a song their mother used to sing to them as children, hoping it will calm Elsa. It works.

Elsa's sobs begin to halt as she hears the sound of her sister's voice. She closes her eyes and lets the sound take over her. She feels her body being lifted from the chair and placed on the bed. Anna continues to sing as she pulls the covers over Elsa's legs and climbs in the bed next to her. Anna finishes the song and they sit in silence for a while. Elsa listens to Anna's breathing, knowing that her sister wants to say something, but can't find any words to say. She feels like this is her fault. She's upsetting Anna. Elsa decides to actually attempt having a conversation. "So… how has your life been going," her voice is rough.

Anna looks up at her and shrugs. "It's been okay. I have a job. I go to school. I have a boyfriend. It's all pretty standard and normal, you know?"

Elsa nods. "You have a boyfriend?" She tries to sound interested in her sister's life. She hates to admit it to herself, but it's hard keeping up a conversation. Nothing interests her anymore. She wishes she could be as optimistic as the doctors or her sister but she's doesn't see the good in this. She can't figure out where the up side is.

Anna clears her throat and looks at her hands. "Yeah, he's a great guy. His name is Kristoff." She pauses. "I know you don't really want to talk right now, Els. I won't make you continue this conversation. I will however tell you that I will always be here, should you actually want to talk."


	3. Nightmare

Elsa wakes from her nightmare shivering and sweating all over. She is vaguely aware of the arms wrapped around her, trying to coax her back to reality. She was back in the war- reliving the accident. Her chest heaves with her heavy breathing and she clutches the sheets around her. She lifts them and notices that her legs are gone as she lets out another cry and drops down. "No," she screams, her cries muffled by the mattress. "Why did this happen?"

Anna gently rubs Elsa's back as she tries to soothe the older woman. "It's okay, Els. It's going to be okay. I love you. I'm here for you."

"It hurts," Elsa says through her sobs.

"What hurts, Elsa? Tell me what hurts." Anna pulls Elsa from the mattress and into her arms. She tries reasoning with Elsa, but the older woman is pretty much catatonic.

"My legs hurt, but they're not there," Elsa manages to squeak out before burying her face into Anna's shirt.

A tear silently falls down Anna's cheek. She wanted to help her sister, she really did, but this was a little out her league. She had no idea what to do or say to help Elsa feel better. She didn't know how to handle the fact that her missing limbs were hurting. She hears the front door open and then she heres some footsteps. "Kristoff," she yells as she gently rocks Elsa, attempting to soother her.

"Are you still up Anna," Kristoff yells. "I had to work the graveyard shift, sorry I'm home-" He stops talking as he enters the room and takes in the scene. "Is she okay?" He tentatively walks toward the bed and sits down on the other side of Elsa. He places a hand her shoulder and begins to gently rub it.

Anna takes in a shaky breath, attempting to keep herself from being reduced to sobbing along side her sister. "She says her legs hurt, but I don't know what to do."

Kristoff gives Anna a nod as he lifts the covers. "Elsa, I'm going to touch your legs, is that okay?" Elsa doesn't respond, she just keeps her face buried in Anna's shirt. Kristoff proceeds. He grabs her stump into his hand and gently begins to rub, massaging near the amputation site. Elsa's sobs lessen with his touch and he begins to softly speak to her. "It's going to be okay, Elsa. We're here for you."

He looks to Anna and she starts to nod. "Yeah, Els. It's okay. We're here. You're safe with us. Just let it out, Els. We'll still be here with you." Elsa loosens her grip on Anna and begins to relax in her arms. Anna lifts her hand and runs it through Elsa's hair. "I love you so much, Els. You're not alone in this. I'm here with you." Anna leans Elsa back and places her head on the pillow. She then lies down and snuggles next to her.

Kristoff places the covers over them both before standing from the bed. "Are you gonna be okay here, Anna? I'll just be one room over if you need me."

Anna nods her head. "We should be fine." Kristoff leaves the room and Anna begins to gently rub Elsa's stomach. "Do you remember that one winter where we got like two feet of snow," she starts, quietly. "School was canceled for like a week, and Papa took us out to play in the snow. We had to wear like full snow suits," Anna says with a small laugh. "I remember you built that snowman and you named him Olaf. You did this goofy voice and moved his arms around. That was the happiest day of my life. Whenever I think about you, I remember that day."

Elsa closes her eyes and listens to the sound of her sister's voice. She wants so badly to be happy. She wants to talk about old memories with her younger sister. She wants to be normal. She just can't get over the wall in her head that's standing in her way. She holds on to Anna like a security blanket, clutching the last string holding her onto reality. She didn't want to slip away. She wanted to stay strong and get through this.


	4. Trying

Anna opens the curtains in Elsa's room- shedding light on the darkness that has consumed the space. Elsa pulls the covers over her head. "Go away, Anna," she groans.

Anna walks toward her and pulls the cover down. "You need to eat something Elsa." Her voice is soft. She wants to be gentle with her sister, not wanting to cause her to fall apart again.

Elsa shakes her head before shoving it deeper into her pillow. "Not hungry. Please leave. I want to sleep."

Anna clears her throat and takes a seat on the side of Elsa's bed. She looks down at her fingers as she twists them together before looking back to Elsa. "If you don't want to talk to me… I've been looking into some support groups. Elsa I really want you to feel better. I won't pretend this is an easy process, but I think you should… try."

Elsa lifts her head. Anna was right. She was… but trying wasn't easy. Elsa wished she could feel better, but every time she gave it real effort- she was just pulled back into darkness. It was exhausting, and she was tired of it. "I do try, Anna. I try everyday." She means it. The fact that she's participating in this conversation is a sign of her trying. Just a week ago she wouldn't be saying anything.

Anna nods. "I don't want to push you, Elsa." She stands from the bed and leaves the small room.

Elsa hated seeing Anna like this. "What do you want me to do," she calls after her, before she can even give it proper thought.

Anna turns back around, light in her eyes. She walks back into Elsa's room and takes a seat on the bed once again. "You could get fit for prosthetics. I know… maybe you don't _want _that quite yet… but they might be nice to have… just in case you ever change your mind about them."

Elsa takes in a deep breath. "That's a big step. Maybe we can start with something small. Like breakfast."

Anna nods as a smile spreads across her face. "Yeah… you're right… sorry. I actually already made breakfast. I can bring-"

"No. I'll eat at the table. I know you want me to get out of bed."

Anna stands and looks at Elsa. "I don't want you to do this for me. I want you to do this for you."

Elsa looks at the snowflakes on the walls. She's still amazed at how much effort Anna had put into making this room feel welcoming to her. "I know that, Anna," she says finally. "I want to do this for myself, but right now that isn't enough motivation… so now I'm doing this for you." She takes in a breath. "Baby steps, okay?"

Anna gives her an understanding nod before walking to the corner of the room to retrieve her wheel chair. "Whatever you need, Elsa." She helps Elsa sit up in bed before leaning down and allowing Elsa to wrap an arm over her shoulder. Anna then lifts and helps Elsa into the wheel chair.

Elsa briefly stares down at her stumps before turning away. "It's hard… to look at," she whispers. She doesn't want to go farther on the topic.

Luckily Anna gets the hint and she fetches a blanket, carefully folding it and placing it over Elsa's lap. "There, that better?"

"Yeah."

Anna rolls Elsa into the kitchen and stops in front of the table. She then fixes Elsa a plate: two pancakes, eggs, a couple of sausages, and she pours her a glass of orange juice. She sets it down in from of Elsa and watches her older sister expectantly. "I'm not the greatest cook, I hope you like it."

Elsa looks up to her. "Aren't you going to sit? If you just stand there, this will be really awkward."

Anna walks back to the food and fixes herself a plate. She then sits on the other side of the table. "Is there anything you want to talk about? We don't have to talk about the war, but we can if-" Anna's voice trails off.

Elsa takes a sip of her orange juice. "I'm not ready for that. How long have you known Kristoff?"

"I met him shortly after you left."

Elsa swirls her fork in the eggs without picking any up. "Are you going to get married?"

Anna takes a bite of her pancakes. "We were thinking about it. We really just want to get our lives together before taking a step like that. He's really sorry about touching your…" Anna clears her throat.

"It helped," Elsa replies. "But he shouldn't make a habit of it. I was only comfortable because it seemed to be the only thing calming me down."

"Oh." Anna looks down at her food.

"I wish you could make it better, Anna. It just doesn't work that way."

Anna looks back up at Elsa. "I know."

It is silent between the two. They hadn't had a real conversation in three years. There was a lot that was going unsaid, but neither one of them wanted to bring it up. Elsa takes a small nibble of her sausage. "I'm sorry I left."

"You don't have to be. Everyone copes differently."

Elsa sets her fork down and pushes her plate away. She folds her hands on top of the table and fixes Anna with a hard stare. "You didn't deserve that. You needed me."

"I think I did fine." Anna picks at her food, before putting her fork down on her plate. "Yeah… I would have liked to have you around… but I would have hated being the thing that was holding you back."

"Maybe I'd still have my legs," Elsa says quietly.

"Maybe."

Elsa picks at a spot on the table as she tries to hold back her tears. "I think I want to go back to my room now."

Anna nods as she stands from the table. She looks Elsa in the eyes as her mouth curls up into a half smile. "Thanks for trying, Els."


	5. Superpower

Anna softly pads through the apartment attempting to figure out why everything is so cold, while not disturbing Elsa. She is painfully aware of her freezing bare feet and she tries to stir up some heat by rubbing the knuckles of her toes against the back of her calf. It does nothing. Once she tries to turn the heat on a few times but comes up empty, she deduces that the heating system must be broken again.

When it went out previously she would just curl up with Kristoff under a blanket with a cup of hot chocolate, but he wasn't there- and Elsa wasn't necessarily a substitute. She wanders into the older woman's room, expecting to find a peacefully sleeping body- ignorant to her slight intrusion, but instead her gaze is met by a fully awake Elsa.

Anna lowers her head and attempts to make it seem like she had an actual purpose for entering the room. "It's pretty cold in the house. I was just checking to see if you were okay."

Elsa takes in a breath but doesn't speak. The silence between them is thick, and both girls wish they knew how to properly cut through it- but it seemed like an impossible task. Finally, after what feels like an eternity, Elsa speaks. "You don't have to worry about me. The cold doesn't bother me much."

_Crap. _Elsa wishes she had found nicer words to say, but those were the only ones that came to mind. They had seemed comforting in her head, but speaking them out loud was a different story. She looks to Anna, hoping the younger girl understood what she was trying to say, but it doesn't appear that she has.

Anna folds her arms, desperately trying to conserve heat. "I know that, Elsa." She looks up. "It's just- it's just that I'm not that used to having you around... so I'm always tempted to come in your room to make sure this is real... to convince myself that you're actually here."

Elsa looks away from Anna and blinks away a tear. She was tired of crying and she had a feeling that Anna was tired of comforting her. "If you're cold... you can get in bed with me." Elsa pauses and clears her throat, her cheeks heating up when Anna doesn't immediately respond. "I mean... th-that is if you want. I probably won't do much-"

She is interrupted by Anna abruptly climbing into the bed beside her. Elsa inches over to make room and the girls lie facing each other, but not touching. The tension in the air between them is almost palpable and Anna makes a feeble attempt to lighten the mood. "When I was little I swore the house would drop a couple of degrees whenever you were upset. I thought you had superpowers." Her voice trails off as she looks Elsa in the eyes.

Elsa's mouth involuntarily curls up into a smile. She missed being this close to Anna. "So what was my superpower? Making the house cold?"

"No," Anna laughs, "-when you were happy the house was warm, and when you were sad it was cold. I just thought you could control the weather."

Elsa reaches toward Anna, moving a strand of hair from her younger sibling's cheek. "Is that why you came in here- you thought I might be upset?"

Anna shrugs. "I just want to be close to you." She pauses, looking over her older sister. A week ago Elsa could barely look at her and now they were sharing a bed. "You seem happier."

Elsa nods, offering a slight smile. She isn't as happy as she one day hopes to be, but she had been feeling slightly better. "Yeah... I even uhm- I looked up some things that people do with prosthetics. Did you know that I could run a race one day?" She tries to put as much optimism as possible in her voice. She wants to give this a real shot.

Anna's face lights up and it brings a special warmth to Elsa's heart. The younger girl throws an arm around Elsa, pulling her into a hug. "That's fantastic. Does this mean you want to get fitted?"

Elsa returns the hug, burying face into Anna's hair. "Yeah," she whispers, "I want to get fitted and start therapy.." She takes in a deep breath. "I want to try to make the best of this situation. I'm not saying I won't still have my bad days... but I can try." She pulls her head back and looks Anna in the eyes. "Anna I want to try."

Anna gives her a reassuring smile. "I know, Els. I was just telling Kristoff how happy I was that you were trying. I can't begin to understand what you're going through, but I know it isn't easy."

Elsa starts to laugh. She can't figure out why but she has this overwhelming feeling of joy. Anna joins in and both girls find themselves giggling uncontrollably. Elsa starts to shake her head. "I always have this feeling that I'm going to upset you or disappoint you... but you always stick by my side no matter what."

Anna nods with a smile. "Yeah, Els. I'm always gonna be here. It's not going to be easy getting rid of me." She runs her hand over Elsa's arm. "You know, it's starting to feel a little warmer in here," she says, with a wink.


End file.
